SAN CARLOS, CA (BRAIN)—Ritchey Design has announced a voluntary recall on certain WCS and Pro level road and 'cross cranksets. According to Ritchey, the
non-driveside arms of affected cranks can break unexpectedly during use, possibly resulting in injury.
All mountain bike, Pro Cross 130mm BCD, and wholly silver-finished cranksets are not affected. Likewise, all driveside crankarms are not affected by the recall due to the additional reinforcement of the chainring spider.
Owners of questionable crankarms are asked to check the five-digit code stamped into the backside of the left arm. The first digit indicates the alloy used ('6' indicates 6061; '2' indicates 2014) while the following four represents the production date in year/month format (e.g. '0301' refers to January 2003). All WCS cranks with a forging code prior to 0501 and all Pro cranks with a forging code prior to 0508 should be replaced.
Alternatively, users can measure the arm thickness at the lowest point in the cavity of the left arm. WCS models thinner than 7mm or Pro models thinner than 9mm should be replaced.
Affected North American consumers should first obtain a return authorization number directly from Ritchey (650-517-1878 or contact_us@ritcheylogic.com, subject 'crank arm recall'). Crankarms should then be shipped to the following address:
Ritchey Design
575 Old County Road
San Carlos, CA 94070
Affected European customers should send cranks to the following address:
Ritchey International Sagl
Attn: Silvio Ostinelli
Via Cantonale, 2
6916 Grancia
Switzerland
warranty@ritchey.ch
Tel: +41 91 9605220
Asian customers should send their affected crankarms to the following address:
Ritchey Design, Inc. -Taiwan Branch
Attn: Maris Adamovics
22F-1, #123 Chungang Rd. Sec 3
Taichung 407, Taiwan
R.O.C
Tel: +886-4-3703-2766 /JJ
Ritchey also announced a voluntary recall of its new WCS Carbon 1Bolt seatpost. According to Ritchey, an unauthorized "deviation" in manufacturing procedures at its Asian factory has produced substandard test results. That deviation has apparently since been corrected but a small number of subpar posts have made it into the marketplace. All single-bolt alloy WCS posts, 'Stubby' heads included with certain Scott Addict models, and all two-bolt seatposts are not affected.
All affected consumers, regardless of locale, are asked to first contact Ritchey's warranty department for a return authorization number at either +1-650-368-4018 extension 1855 or contact_us@ritcheylogic.com.
